Psych exam 2 Chapter 6 Practice questions
According to the _____, the retina has three types of color receptors. Each of these types is sensitive to one of three colors: red, green, or blue.
Young-Helmholtz trichromatic theory
As John was leaving the show, he was unable to hear his friend talking next to him in a normal conversational tone of _____ decibels since the rock concert was well over 130 decibels.
60
Adeline is worried because she knows that her work environment is very loud and that prolonged exposure to sounds above _____ decibels can produce hearing loss.
85
Which of the following statements is true of a blind spot?
A blind spot is created when there are no receptor cells.
A neutral facial expression may be perceived as sadder at a funeral than at a circus. This BEST illustrates what?
A context effect
Visual information is processed by ganglion cells:
AFTER it is processed by rods and cones and AFTER it is processed by bipolar cells.
_____ is the minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular sensory stimulus (e.g., light, sound, pressure, and taste) 50 percent of the time.
Absolute threshold
The opponent-process theory is MOST useful for explaining the characteristics of
Afterimages
Camilla has been told that her basilar membrane is damaged. This is MOST likely to affect her:
Audition
MOST hearing losses are results of damage to the:
Hair cells.
The difference threshold is best described as the minimum difference that a person can detect:
Between two stimuli 50 percent of the time
In a brain surgery that went wrong, Matthew lost a portion of his visual cortex and is blind in part of his field of vision. This condition is known as:
Blindsight
The _____ is the point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye.
Blindspot
Sensory analysis starts at the entry level, such as with the sensory receptors, and works up to the integration of sensory information in the brain. This process is called:
Bottom-up processing
According to the Gestalt psychologists, people tend to fill in the gaps to create a complete, whole object. This is called the principle of:
Closure
A building contractor surveys the progress on a home that is being built. From one angle, it appears that the home is completely framed. However, when one moves to the right, one sees the gaps. This illustrates the principle of:
Closure.
Hammer, anvil, and stirrup are three tiny bones that transmit vibrations to the:
Cochlea.
This coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear through which sound waves trigger nerve impulses is called the:
Cochlea.
Even when seen through sunglasses, grass appears equally as green as it does without glasses. This BEST illustrates:
Color constancy
What occurs when the eardrum is punctured or if the tiny bones in the middle ear lose their ability to vibrate?
Conduction hearing loss
Ricardo has been suffering from a lengthy battle with the flu. His ears are painfully plugged with fluid. One morning his right ear "pops" from all of the pressure and fluid comes out. He screams in pain because the eardrum has punctured. This will result in:
Conduction hearing loss.
According to the Gestalt psychologists, people perceive smooth, continuous patterns rather than discontinuous ones. This is called the principle of:
Continuity
The transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape to help focus images on the retina is called the:
Cornea
Sensory adaptation can be defined as what?
Diminished sensitivity as a result of constant stimulation
For humans, the placement of two ears allows them to what?
Enjoy stereophonic hearing
Gestalt psychologists were fond of saying that, in perception, the whole may:
Exceed the sum of its parts.
The retina's central focal point is the _____, which contains only cones, and no rods.
Fovea
The number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time is known as
Frequency
Rules for organizing stimuli into coherent groups were first identified by what?
Gestalt psychologists
Rules for organizing stimuli into coherent groups were first identified by:
Gestalt psychologists.
According to the Gestalt psychologists' principle of proximity, humans tend to:
Group nearby figures together
A perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups is known as:
Grouping.
_____ is the result of the transduction of air pressure waves into neural messages that are interpreted by the brain.
Hearing
In terms of a person's sensory experience of light, wavelength is to _____ as wave intensity is to _____.
Hue; brightness
Marlene wakes up early in the morning and her room is fairly dark. She looks over and sees her shirt hanging on a hook. She knows it's her red shirt because she hung it up there before she went to bed, but in the dark she cannot see its color. It looks dark gray to her. Why is that?
In the dim light, the cones in a person's eyes are ineffectual.
The cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs make up the what?
Inner ear
The cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs make up the:
Inner ear
_____ refers to the amount of energy in a light or sound wave, which a person perceives as brightness or loudness, as determined by the wave's amplitude.
Intensity
Pedro recognized that his son was closer to him than his daughter because his son partially obstructed his view of his daughter. Pedro's perception was MOST clearly influenced by a distance cue known as:
Interposition
_____ occurs when one object partially blocks a person's view of another, and the unblocked object is perceived as closer.
Interposition
The ring of muscle tissue that controls the pupil's size is called the:
Iris
The Moon illusion refers to people's tendency to perceive the Moon as unusually:
Large when it is near the horizon
A person read about an accident at a rail-crossing and wondered about the cause. Perhaps it was caused by _____ (a monocular cue concerning parallel lines), which might have led the car's driver to overestimate the distance of the train.
Linear perspective
The amplitude of sound wave determines what aspect of hearing?
Loudness
Hammer, anvil, and stirrup are the three tiny bones that make up the what?
Middle ear
Relative size, interposition, relative motion, and relative height are examples of what?
Monocular cues
_____ refers to the top-down mental process of organizing and interpreting sensory inputs.
Perception
People recognize objects as having a consistent form regardless of how the viewing angle changes. This fact that illustrates:
Perceptual constancy
Even though it is completely dark outside and she is inside her house, Clare knows that the color of her car as well as the size of it has not changed. This is an example of:
Perceptual constancy.
Professor Brandt is conducting a study on _____. He shows his study participants, a picture of an adult-child pair. He tells half of the participants that they are looking at a parent and her child. He tells the other half that they are looking at a daycare worker and a child in the daycare center. The group that thinks the pair is related rates them as looking more alike than the group that thinks they are NOT related.
Perceptual set
After hearing that Bryce had served a prison sentence, Janet began to perceive his friendly behavior as insincere and manipulative. This BEST illustrates the impact of:
Perceptual set.
Once John learned of Sara's abusive past, he began to perceive her cautious behavior around men as more self-protective rather than rude. This BEST illustrates the impact of:
Perceptual set.
Both _____ and _____ indicate how a person's experiences help people construct perceptions.
Perceptual set; context
When people look at a photograph of an adult-child pair and are told that the two individuals are parent and child, the people tend to say the pair looks more alike than people who are told the pair is unrelated. This is MOST likely caused by what?
Perceptual sets
Enrico is having trouble telling the difference between the sound of a tuba and the sound of a piccolo. Even though a piccolo produces much shorter, faster sound waves than does a tuba, he has trouble picking out the differences in the _____ of these sounds.
Pitch
Enrico is having trouble telling the difference between the sound of a tuba and the sound of a piccolo. Even though a piccolo produces much shorter, faster sound waves than does a tuba, he has trouble picking out the differences in the what of these sounds?
Pitch
The volley principle is MOST relevant to understanding how people sense what?
Pitch
The volley principle is MOST relevant to understanding how people sense:
Pitch.
Hermann von Helmholtz speculated that people hear different pitches because different sound waves trigger activity at different places along the cochlea's basilar membrane. His theory is called what?
Place theory
After a rap concert, Dominique notices her ears are ringing. This ringing indicates:
Possible damage to the hair cells of her basilar membrane.
Gretta is 85 years old and having trouble with her hearing. She worked in a factory for many years at a time before there were government regulations safeguarding noise levels. The MOST likely reasons for her sensorineural hearing loss are normal aging and what?
Prolonged exposure to ear-splitting noise
According to the Gestalt psychologists, people tend to group together figures that are similar to each other. This is called the principle of:
Proximity
The way in which a student quickly groups the individual letters in this test item into separate words BEST illustrates the principle of what?
Proximity
The way in which a student quickly groups the individual letters in this test item into separate words BEST illustrates the principle of:
Proximity
The adjustable opening in the center of the eye through which light enters is called the:
Pupil
Drivers sometimes overestimate the distance between their own vehicles and pedestrians who are short, because they rely on the distance cue known as what?
Relative size
_____ is to possible hearing damage as pain is to possible bodily harm.
Ringing of the ears
_____ are retinal receptors that detect black, white, and gray, whereas _____ detect fine detail and give rise to color sensations.
Rods; cones
Perceptual sets are the result of _____, which people form to organize and interpret unfamiliar information.
Schemas
_____ refers to the process by which people detect stimulus energy in the environment and encode that energy as neural signals.
Sensation
Kari is a fan of heavy metal music. Her mother is concerned because she knows that prolonged exposure to ear-splitting music can cause what?
Sensorineural hearing loss
What occurs when there is damage to the cochlea's receptor cells or to the auditory nerves?
Sensorineural hearing loss
Billy Bob works at the airport as part of the ground crew. He typically takes off his hearing protection as he finds it cumbersome. Prolonged exposure to the roars of the jet engines will result in:
Sensorineural hearing loss.
If Tom moves his watchband up his wrist an inch, he will feel it for only a few moments. This BEST illustrates what?
Sensory adaptation
The minute Karen walks into her mother-in-law's house to visit, she is struck by the strong smell of her perfume. However, after about 10 minutes, Karen no longer notices the smell. This is probably the result of:
Sensory adaptation.
When Sheila arrived at the gym on Tuesday morning, she noticed the musty odor of the showers in the locker room. As she finished changing, she did not notice the smell. This is probably the result of:
Sensory adaptation.
Which activity MOST clearly takes place in the rods and cones?
Sensory transduction
Dennis, a nurse, notes that some parents of asthmatic children respond to very small changes in their children's breathing and seek care accordingly. However, other parents might not notice the same small changes. This type of difference in reaction to stimuli is BEST explained by what?
Signal detection theory
Two TSA officers are scanning bags at the airport. One of the officers lets a bag go through when the other officer yells, "Wait, did you see that?" Why one officer saw a weapon and the other did not is BEST explained by what?
Signal detection theory
Dennis, a nurse, notes that some parents of asthmatic children respond to very small changes in their children's breathing and seek care accordingly. However, other parents might not notice the same small changes. This type of difference in reaction to stimuli is BEST explained by:
Signal detection theory.
The assumption that a car is large enough to carry people, even when viewing its tiny image from two blocks away, illustrates the concept of _____.
Size constancy
What occurs below a person's absolute threshold for conscious awareness?
Subliminal stimulation
_____ occurs below a person's absolute threshold for conscious awareness.
Subliminal stimulation
Susan asked her roommate to lower the radio as she was trying to study. Her roommate had turned the radio up originally from a volume level of 14 to 15, which was just enough for Susan to detect. Susan's reaction relates to the concept of:
The difference threshold.
While at work, Tim experiences a ringing-in-the-ears sensation known as:
Tinnitus
Individuals interpret what their senses detect using what?
Top-down processing
Interpreting new sensory information within the framework of a past memory illustrates what?
Top-down processing
Information processing is guided by higher-level mental processes such as when a person constructs perceptions drawing on that person's experience and expectations. This process is called what?
Top-down processing.
Information processing is guided by higher-level mental processes such as when a person constructs perceptions drawing on that person's experience and expectations. This process is called:
Top-down processing.
Carla opens her eyes in the morning to see flowers by her bedside. At that point, her eyes are receiving light energy, which they change into neural messages for the brain to process. This conversion of one form of energy into another is called:
Transduction
What refers to the conversion of one form of energy into another?
Transduction
The principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage rather than a constant amount is called:
Weber's law
The size of the difference threshold is greater for heavier objects than for lighter ones. This BEST illustrates:
Weber's law.
Tom stayed up way too late last night and his eyes are tired. He closes his eyes, and as he rubs his eye, he notices a white light. This is because:
a person's retinal cells are extremely responsive, and the pressure from a person's hand triggers them.
According to the Gestalt psychologists' principle of proximity, humans tend to what?
group nearby figures together
Julio is working on a series of landscape paintings. He wants to create a realistic depiction of the English countryside. To turn the flat surface of the canvas into a three-dimensional painting, he would use techniques such as:
linear perspective
The minute Karen walks into her mother-in-law's house to visit, she is struck by the strong smell of her perfume. However, after about 10 minutes, Karen no longer notices the smell. This is probably the result of what?
sensory adaptation
